


The Gift

by scifiromance



Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Drama, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Maquis, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-12-31
Updated: 2014-02-24
Packaged: 2017-11-23 02:46:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/617235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scifiromance/pseuds/scifiromance
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An eighteen year old Chakotay's dreams of attending Starfleet Academy are thrown into disarray when a Borg Cube crashes near his home... AU. C/7. Pre-series into a canon AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Saviours

**A/n: Hi readers! I’ve changed quite a few things for this fic, including Chakotay’s age, for the purposes of this fic there’s only about two years between him and Seven, rather than nineteen. Anyway, hopefully you’ll understand as you read, please review! :D**

Dorvan V. Early spring, 2364.

“Dear Mr Kotay, we at Starfleet Academy are pleased to be able to offer you a place as a freshman cadet for the academic year 2364/65. Please send us your final exam results and graduation certificate before Stardate3064.9, (August 24 2364 Terran calendar) and we’ll…” The letter’s recipient, the aforementioned Mr Kotay, more commonly known as Chakotay, stopped reading at that point, a wide smile spreading across his face. He’d gotten in! He’d beaten all those centrally educated city boys, all he had to do was be sure to pass his last exams and he’d finally be able to leave this backwater… “Chakotay?” A young, uncertain, female voice interrupted his thoughts, “What are you doing?”

He turned around to see his sixteen year old sister Sekaya peering at him curiously from where she was standing at the threshold of his bedroom door. For once he wasn’t even angry that his baby sister hadn’t knocked, with a sheepish smile he lifted the PADD with the beloved letter on it up to her eye level, “Reading this.” He replied cryptically.

Sekaya shot him and confused and irritated look, but as she did so her eyes caught the Starfleet insignia on the back of the PADD. “You got in?” she squealed excitedly, throwing herself into his arms for a hug as he joyfully laughed and nodded in answer. “What a great belated eighteenth birthday present to get, it’s not fair!” she exclaimed as she stepped back out of the tight hug, hitting him teasingly on the arm.

“In a couple of years you’ll be going to whatever college you want Sekaya.” He told her confidently with a warm smile.

Sekaya snorted, “Over Dad’s dead body…” She began, stopping as realisation hit her of her brother’s problem, “Wait, how are you going to tell Dad you’re going away? You know he won’t take it well…”

Chakotay winced; he _had_ been hoping to have some time to think that…delicate task over but… “I know…” He sighed heavily, “That’s probably why I never told him I’d applied…”

Sekaya gaped at him for a moment before her face hardened, “You idiot! You’ll give him a heart attack…”

Chakotay bristled, “That’s maybe exaggerating it a bit Sekaya…”

“Oh?” she echoed sarcastically, “Then go and tell him right now then!”

A dry chuckle rippled through the room, “Obviously your mother’s efforts to teach you two not to argue haven’t stuck.”

Chakotay felt himself fall into mental paralysis for a moment as he saw his father’s weather-beaten face in front of him and stammered, “D…Dad?”

Kolopak’s eyes, dark and rich as his farm’s soil, twinkled in amusement. “Yes Chakotay, I’m here in my own home. Now what is it you wanted to tell me?”

“Um…” Chakotay swallowed hard, his eyes skimming everything around him in search of an idea. Finally, they fell on the view from his window and he muttered, “I was just saying to Sekaya that I think it’s about time the crops were sown, that’s all.”

Sekaya shot him a disparaging look and silently mouthed “Chicken” at him from behind her father’s back as he smiled with pleased approval, “Great minds think alike son. I was just about to suggest that we start the preparations, why don’t you get your new medicine bag and come with me?”

Chakotay choked back an exasperated sigh, more praying! Instead he just nodded submissively and snatched up his medicine bag, a coming of age present for his birthday the week before, and followed his father outside.

* * *

 

Kolopak silently sprinkled red ochre onto the freshly ploughed ground as the melodic ancient chants of his people hummed from his throat, “Take this sacred earth as a gift from this family and if you see it fit to bless us with gentle rain and soft sun from your skies then we may…” He paused mid prayer as his son’s suppressed sighs and tut of disapproval hit his ears and turned abruptly to face him, “Is there something wrong Chakotay?”

“No…” Chakotay started to mutter then let himself frown at his father, “Why are you bothering to do this? There is no god of rain, or anything else for that matter. Why do you refuse the weather simulators that have been around for over a century and yet still continue to do this?”

“I do it because it is the way of our people, to let nature take its course and still live happily with it. Control breeds discontent Chakotay.”

Chakotay didn’t bother to bite back his snort, “Why are you so scared of technology? We’d still be who we are; we’d just catch up with everyone else!”

Kolopak frowned sadly at him, “And who’s to say we’d like where they’re headed, compared to what we have now?”

His dismissive tone of everything he admired riled Chakotay, “Well, I don’t know about you, but I want to find out!” he snapped angrily, withdrawing the PADD hidden in his bag and tossing it at his father, “I’m going to Starfleet in the fall, whether you want me to or not!”

Kolopak flinched at his abrasive tone and said, with cold, hurt anger reflecting in his eyes, “You are an adult now, I can’t stop you, but as your father I can warn you…” He shovelled up a handful of soil in his hands, _“This_ , this land, the land your people have cultivated with their own hands for generations, will always be more yours than any sanitised ship Starfleet could offer you! If you take this path you may find that one day your roots are gone…”

“What do you know about Starfleet?” Chakotay shot back, “You wouldn’t know a ship if it fell on your head…” An all encompassing roar drowned out the rest of his words, the very ground beneath his feet shuddering in trepidation as he looked up to see a huge object curving a low flaming arc in the sky. “What’s that?” he asked his father in disbelief, “A meteor?”

“No…” His father replied, his eyes fixed unerringly on the violent light show above, “It’s a ship…” Before the last word had left his lips the vessel disappeared over the horizon, the pressure wave of the explosion almost knocking them off their feet even before the ear splitting bang resounded off their ears.

“It’s crashed…” Chakotay breathed in horror as the sickening smell of charred wood and boiling plasma filled his nostrils. Without thinking, he pulled out his rather dilapidated tricorder and scanned the surrounding area, forgetting for the moment that his father had banned him from using such technology outside of school. “I can’t identify what kind of vessel it is, but there are a few lifesigns, faint though.”

Kolopak nodded, “It isn’t far away, I can hear the flames, maybe even within our boundary. Let’s go see what we can do for them.” Chakotay stared at him in surprise, but his father had already headed off through the bush.

* * *

 

Kolopak knew by the scale of the destruction, craters of mangled debris, centuries old trees buckled and burning, that he was a witness to a huge disaster but the size of the vessel still shocked him. It had been cube shaped at one point, but now lay embedded in the ground, a huge crippling gash in its side opening its contents to the world. Smouldering fuel spilled out onto the smoke blackened ground… He was struggling to take it in, the unrecognisable bodies that lay strewn everywhere, when Chakotay caught up with him, “Dad…” He began fearfully, gagging as he saw the bodies, “What…What happened to them?”

Kolopak bowed his head regretfully, “I don’t know son.” He peered askance at the tricorder, “Can you read any survivors on that thing?”

“There’s one nearby, in the wreckage I think…” Chakotay responded shakily, fighting the urge to turn and run, there was just something about the unknown ship that reeked of death and filled him with an irrational fear. “Dad, I think we should wait for the sheriff…” He began to caution but he was too late, his father already disappearing into the pierced hull of the ship. “Hey, wait!” he shouted fearfully after him, only following him when he got no response. “Dad! Dad!” he called out as he crept inside, cautiously pushing aside damaged circuitry as he scanned the darkness for his father.

God, if I was going to design hell this would be pretty much it… He thought as he wandered mindlessly around, trying to follow his tricorder’s readings as best he could in the crushed space, only dimly lit by some sort of sickly green lights. A shudder ran up his back as he heard a groan, “Dad!” he cried out again, running towards the sound but instead colliding with something drooping against a wall. He screamed as he saw what it was, a dead humanoid face overlaid with technology. “ _Borg_!” He could barely force the cry from his throat such was his fear.

“I know Chakotay.” Chakotay’s head swivelled wildly around to see his father bent over something blocking the corridor just ahead. He gave his son a calmly reassuring glance over his shoulder then smiled wryly, “I don’t think they’re up to much assimilating at the moment.”

“But…” Chakotay choked out, “There could be beacons on this ship! A whole fleet of them could be coming…”

“If the Borg wanted Dorvan V they’d have it by now Chakotay.” Kolopak pointed out calmly. “Come here, I think I found your lifesign.”

Chakotay stepped forward a few steps, freezing when he saw the limp, but still unmistakable, body of a drone in his father’s lap. “Don’t touch that!” He hissed in disgust, flinching when it groaned, “Just…Just put it out of its misery and let’s get out of here!”

Kolopak glared at him with an anger that shocked Chakotay, “I’ve raised my children better than to let anyone suffer when they need help!” He tilted the stark white, blue veined face of the drone towards Chakotay, “Look, she’s younger than your sister, and human too…at some point in her life.”

“ _She_?” Chakotay echoed in disbelief. How could even tell it was human, let alone if it was male or female? The twitching arm of gnarled metal, the bald scalp, the dimly glowing implant that had once been an eye… His observations were interrupted as the drone gave a violent jerk and he found himself staring into a pale blue human eye, cold with blind hatred. “We…are Borg…” She, even with that monotone voice Chakotay could tell that his father had been right, choked out determinedly, her hand weakly rising to grab Kolopak, her legs thrashing. “You will be assimilated!” She ground out, “Resistance is fu…” A broken, almost childish moan of pain left her colourless lips and she sank limply against Kolopak.

“Is it dead?” Chakotay breathed, trying and failing to keep the relief from his voice.

“No, but she’ll probably wish she was when she wakes.” Kolopak replied sadly, stroking the scarred face gently, “Poor little girl…”

“She’s not a child Dad; she’s a Borg drone who’d kill us without a thought…”

Kolopak sighed heavily, “If you’re going to be a Starfleet officer Chakotay, you’re going to have to learn to show compassion to those you fear or hate.” Chakotay stiffened as the words sank in, regretful pity for the drones, who had all once been as individual as he, entering his soul for the first time, his shoulders slumping in defeat. Kolopak smiled at him proudly, “Good. Now, help me lift her up, she needs to get to the hospital if we’re going to save her.”

**A/n: PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW! :D Don't worry about it not being continued, I've already written over 40 chapter for another fanfic site so it'll all be up. :)**

 

 

 


	2. Crash and Burn

Chakotay felt a shudder run through him as he shifted awkwardly on the cold chair, fighting to keep his eyes away from the unconscious drone lying on the biobed nearby and instead scanning the interior of the small hospital he wished wasn’t so familiar. It was the only structure on the planet which even remotely came up to modern standards, not that that had done his mother much good… Instinctively he drew back from that memory, still raw even after over two years, and focused instead on his father’s and Dr Chovak’s conversation, “You were right Kolopak, genetically she’s as human as the rest of us, and according to the tricorder around fifteen years old, but who knows what those implants are doing to the accuracy of my instruments.” Dr Chovak said as his practised eye studied the drone again.

“Fifteen?” Kolopak muttered sadly, gazing at the unmoving, mutilated young body for a moment before straightening his shoulders. “Will she live?”

Dr Chovak frowned thoughtfully, “Her injuries are actually quite minor, she was lucky, all the other drones we’ve found so far are dead. The problem is that with her link with the Collective broken, her human physiology is reasserting itself and rejecting her implants, if we don’t remove the vast majority of them, she’ll go into septic shock and die.”

Jokolan, one of the two village elders who had joined them in Sickbay, suddenly spoke up, “When we finally manage to get through the Cardassian comm. signal block, I’m sure Starfleet’s doctors will do all they can for her.”

Chovak shook his head. “You don’t understand, _I’ll_ have to do it she has any chance of survival, time is of the essence.”

Kolopak nodded grimly and turned towards Jokolan, “Who is to say the best place for her is Starfleet?”

Jokolan stared at him in disbelief, “What are you talking about? Starfleet are going to be crawling all over this place when they find out about the Cube, they’ll want to study her…”

Kolopak glared back at him coolly, “Precisely my point, they’ll study her, not help her. If this was _your_ daughter in this situation, would you want her shipped off to be some sort of lab rat?” He knew he’d made his point when the other man flinched, his tone becoming correspondingly resolute, “I say we do all we can for her until we can find her family, or if she has none, keep her safe until we’re sure she won’t be mistreated. If Starfleet want something to study, there are hundreds of corpses.”

Chakotay felt his mouth drop open. “Dad, you can’t seriously be suggesting that we keep her _here_ …”

“I’m perfectly serious Chakotay.” Kolopak interrupted, guessing his son’s point.

“But…” Chakotay began angrily, only to be once again interrupted by the stern clearing of a throat.

It was Daropak, the oldest and most senior of the elders, who had accompanied Jokolan to the hospital. “This is not a time for arguing.” He admonished them all gently, though with his eyes on Chakotay, who flushed in embarrassed anger. “I agree with Kolopak, the Sprits have brought her here, and made Kolopak and Chakotay find her, for a reason. We should not forsake a gift and we cannot allow any child to fall into danger. If she lives, she must be shielded as a daughter of our people, at least until her family have been found.”

Daropak’s words hung in the air for several minutes before Chovak awkwardly spoke up, “I have your permission to treat her then Elder?” he asked respectfully.

Daropak, now moving to leave the room with Jokolan, glanced back at the girl then shot Kolopak a small smile, “It seems the Sprits have chosen Kolopak and his family for her, let him decide.”

As soon as the two Elders were gone Chakotay whirled around to face his father, his face fearful and questioning, “They don’t expect _you_ to be responsible for a Borg do they?” he asked somewhat shrilly.

His father just breathed a sigh in reply and patted the drone’s bloodless hand before addressing Dr Chovak, “I think you should do all you can for her.”

Chovak nodded approvingly but trepidation revealed itself in his voice as he said, “Good, but just to warn you that I doubt she’ll thank you for it, she’s been a drone most of her life, the implants grew with her, the Collective may be all she knows.”

Kolopak seemed to think the doctor’s words over before saying quietly, “Can you wake her?” When he saw their incredulous looks he shrugged, “It doesn’t seem right not to at least _try_ to talk to her before we perform a life-changing operation.”

“How do we know if she’ll even be able to talk without the Collective? They don’t think separately!” Chakotay exclaimed.

Chovak began to prepare the hypospray. “She is as sentient a human being as you or I Chakotay even with God knows how many years of Borg brainwashing.”

Chakotay sighed and turned to his father pleadingly, “At least put up some forcefields up around her.” Kolopak nodded wordlessly and as soon Chovak had moved in to administer the hypospray and stepped back a blue forcefield materialised around the biobed.

Chakotay couldn’t drag his eyes away as he saw her begin to slowly drift into consciousness, morbidly reminded of the classic Earth novel Frankenstein he’d had to read for school as he saw her limbs begin to twitch. He jumped as her single eye shot open and within seconds she sat bolt upright on the biobed, he could see her cybernetic eye scanning them for a few moments before a gasp of realisation left her throat. “The others…where are the others?” she whispered in fearful confusion, clutching her head as if in pain, “Silence…alone. Why are we alone?” The last word left her mouth as a panicked moan and for the first time she seemed to realise the significance of their presence, launching herself off the biobed and onto her feet with predatory ease, glaring at them with accusatory violence. “What have you done to this drone?” she snarled, “It’s link with the Collective is _severed_...” She stopped as if the very acknowledgement of this fact hurt her.

Kolopak smiled at her with gentle, reassuring pity, “I know and I’m sorry. I know that must be terrifying for you. I’m Kolopak…” He paused and indicated Chovak and Chakotay, “This is Dr Chovak, who’s been treating you, and my son Chakotay. What’s your name?”

Her metal scarred hands clenched. “Names are irrelevant.” She stated icily. “This drone’s designation is Seven of Nine, Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix Zero One.” One of the monitors clipped to her beeped and she shied at the sound like a wild animal, wrenching the device from her shoulder and throwing it to the floor, her fearless superior mask slipping. “Where are the others? _What have you done to us_?” she shouted, on the brink of hysteria.

Kolopak tried to keep his demeanour calm and sympathetic, “We haven’t done anything to you Seven of Nine, your Cube crashed here, and you were the only survivor…”

“No! Impossi…” She began to retort before halting abruptly, Chakotay could sense the memories washing over her as her expression suddenly became distant, her voice shaky, “Malfunction… We fell out of transwarp, in Sector 3567.6, Dor…Dorvan V…”

Kolopak smiled encouragingly at her. “That’s right. You’re in the hospital on Dorvan V. You need treatment…”

“Treatment?” Seven of Nine interrupted tersely, “No, we do not require your treatment. Provide us with a sub space transponder to contact the Collective, and then this drone will be repaired.”

Kolopak shook his head sadly, “I’m sorry, we can’t do that.”

She stalked towards him until her face practically brushed against the forcefield. “You _do not_ have a choice.”

“Neither do you.” Dr Chovak interjected, “Your human physiology is reasserting itself, if we don’t remove your Borg systems you’ll die.”

She barely flinched, something which disturbed and saddened all three men in the room. “Then we will die.”

“No, we’re giving you back your life. You’re human, a unique individual, no one else is forcing their thoughts on you…” Kolopak tried to explain, but all of her control seemed to leave her then.

“ _WE ARE BORG_!” she screamed, “We cannot function _alone_!” Chakotay jumped as she threw herself against the forcefield, he could hear the sizzle of her remaining human flesh burning. “Return this drone to the Collective _NOW_!” she cried out in a snarl as she drew back, growing even more enraged when Kolopak shook his head at her and throwing herself against the forcefield until they could see it straining to hold her. Chakotay knew she could feel the agony, he could hear whimpers of pain through the wordless cries of rage and terror, but that seemed to be preferable to listening to them.

“She’ll kill herself!” Chovak exclaimed in horror, snatching up a hypospray while she was distracted by Kolopak. Quickly he deactivated the shield and injected her before her now truly crippled body could react.

“You will be assimil…” She began to shriek wildly before suddenly slumping back against Chovak, once again unconscious.

Breathlessly Chovak heaved her back onto the biobed. “I think you’d better find some way to get through to her before trying that again Kolopak.” He said grimly.

“Start the operation; she’s not competent enough right now to make the choice.” Kolopak said quietly, with Chakotay staring at him in disbelief, surely after that exchange he didn’t still want to save her?

“I’ll have to do it in stages, her body is very weak.” Chovak replied.

“Call us back when she’s stable.” Kolopak muttered, running a stressed hand through his greying hair, “Come on Chakotay.”

* * *

 

Chakotay barely bothered to explain the situation to Sekaya before retreating to his room, how could their lives have altered so much in just a couple of hours? His going to Starfleet was the last thing on his mind now, let alone his father’s. After three hours or so, Chakotay dared to enter his father’s office, longing to talk this whole hellish day over, but he jolted back in shock when he saw that his father, the technology-phobic, was standing knee deep in Borg wreckage, a handheld computer in his hand. “What the hell are you doing bringing that into the house?” Chakotay snapped angrily.

Kolopak ignored his tone, instead saying lightly, “Believe or not, I can use technology perfectly well Chakotay, I just chose not to long ago, but this is a special case.” He tossed the small computer at Chakotay, “I found out who she is…or was.”

“Really?” Chakotay asked sceptically before glancing down at the screen, which to his surprise showed a half page biography, flanked by a picture of a happily smiling little girl, not even school age, with long blonde hair that went down to her waist and bright, sky-blue eyes. He found himself swallowing a lump in his throat, that couldn’t possibly be their drone! “Annika Hansen, born Stardate 4868.4, 24th of June 2348 on Deep Space Three…” He trailed off, not wanting to read further into the life of this lost girl. “God, Dr Chovak was right, she won’t even be sixteen for over three months and she’s threatening to kill us…”

Kolopak exhaled heavily, “From what I can gather her parents, Magnus and Erin, were the first scientists to study the Borg, as that implies they were mavericks in their field, exobiology. Apparently when Annika was three they went on an unsanctioned research mission, following the Borg into the Delta Quadrant.”

Chakotay gulped, suddenly grateful that even though his father had often dragged along on research missions he’d never been reckless enough to take him into a virtually unknown quadrant, infested with Borg. “The Delta Quadrant? We may be on the edge of the Federation Dad, but we’re definitely still in the Alpha Quadrant! How did she get here?”

Kolopak’s brow furrowed uneasily, “You’ll have to ask her that.” He took in a deep breath, as if bracing himself. “According to what I’ve recovered, she was assimilated on Stardate 5468.6, the 26th of June 2354, her parents too.”

Chakotay’s gut tightened in pity, the colour draining from his face. “She was assimilated _two days_ after her sixth birthday? That’s nearly ten years! No wonder she doesn’t remember anything…”

Kolopak’s face was grimly set. “We’re just going to have to help her; I haven’t had any luck finding any family as yet.” With that he sighed heavily and left his son alone in the office, who stared at the photograph with grief in his heart.

**A/n: I hope you like where this is going! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW! :D Just to say that I know Seven has an aunt on the show, but she probably won’t in this fic. (Unless I can think of a way to write her in but maintain my plot!)**


	3. Barriers

Chakotay wasn’t sure how long he stood in the office before he drifted outside the house and back towards the hospital, passing his father’s bedroom door as he left, through which he could hear his father praying for advice and support from the Sprits. He wasn’t sure what drove him back to the hospital he’d fled from only hours before, but cautiously put it down to curiosity as he stepped back into the room where Dr Chovak stood bent over the console closest to his patient’s biobed, lifting his head and smiling tiredly at Chakotay as he entered. “What’s that you’ve got there?” he asked.

Chakotay felt confused for a moment until he realised he was still holding the PADD with Annika Hansen’s background on it and flushed slightly, why did he still have that anyway? Why did he even care? “Oh, um, Dad thinks he’s found out who she is.” He finally said awkwardly, “Annika Hansen, she and her parents were assimilated nearly ten years ago.”

Chovak sighed through his teeth, “Well, I suppose that explains her behaviour earlier.”

“Yeah.” Chakotay agreed quietly, before stepping closer to the biobed and letting his eyes sweep over the girl’s unmoving body, gasping in surprise when he saw the changes, Chovak had obviously been working hard. Her skin had turned a decidedly more natural shade of pale pink, among the still numerous metallic implants there were now large patches of gauze where some of the additions had obviously been removed, and most obviously the black box that had been her cybernetic eye was gone, replaced by what looked like a normal eye, only differing from the other by having silver metal encasing where her eyebrow should have been and curving around part of her eye socket. Chakotay shot Chovak an impressed look, “Are you finished?”

Chovak choked back a small, exhausted laugh, “Oh no, I’ve only removed about half of what I need to so far!”

“You’re doing well so far! I didn’t think she’d have her own eye under that thing!”

Chovak’s face darkened, “She didn’t. I used some of the Borg technology to fashion her one, it’ll have most of the aspects of her Borg one, but it matches her human eye as much as possible, I doubt anyone will be able to tell it’s not original.” He waited until he saw that Chakotay had absorbed what he’d said before heading to the door, “I’d better go and tell your father and the Elders about the progress so far before I continue…”

“Can I stay here?” Chakotay asked as he mentally compared the photograph now burned into his memory with the mutilated creature before him now.

Chovak shrugged, “Sure, I don’t see why not.”

“Thanks.” Chakotay muttered as the doctor left, finding a chair far enough away from the biobed to put a reasonable distance between himself and the drone and settling down to watch and wait.

He’d been sitting there less than ten minutes when a weak groan penetrated his ears and his sleepy head snapped up to see the girl jerking into consciousness, her metal webbed hand brushing against her damp forehead as she struggled to wake. Quickly he jumped off the chair and headed towards the edge of the forcefield which still surrounded her, stopping abruptly halfway when his common sense told him to call Chovak and his father before doing anything… His hand paused above the comm. console though as a whimper that sounded disturbingly like a sob sent a chill down his spine and he promptly forgot what was sensible and turned to face the captive patient.

Her eyes, now a discerning pair of pale blue orbs, were wide open now, their gaze shifting constantly without focusing on anything, her posture, even lying down, was taunt and fearful. Chakotay couldn’t help but be reminded of the time he and his father had found a wild horse in a trap while on Earth, it’s eyes had had that same uncontrollable instinctive fear hers had now, ready to flee or lash out until the threat was gone… He swallowed, it wasn’t right that a human should be like that! He heard her gasp for air, she was fully consciousness now, and found himself mumbling under his breath, “Hey.” He smiled as her as gently as he could, trying to keep his own distrust hidden, “Relax, you’re safe here…”

She sat up in a single movement, staring at him with darkened but empty eyes which frightened him, as if measuring him up, then glanced down at herself, he was surprised to see her lips twist in a momentary display of shock and disgust before setting her flaming eyes on him again. “You have tampered with this drone.” She stated, despite her icy tone she sounded shocked that such a thing was possible.

Chakotay felt himself shrug, unsure as how to answer her. “If you count making you human again, then yes, we have…tampered with you.”

Her stare became a violent, agitated glare, “We are _Borg_! We have always been Borg!”

Chakotay winced as he thought of the little _human_ girl she had once been and shook his head vigorously, “No, you were born human. We’re doing this to give you back your freedom, the life the Borg stole from you! Now you can do whatever you want, not being forced to assimilate others…”

“We _want_ to be Borg!” She retorted, beginning to pace around the confined space behind the forcefield, nostrils flaring in frustration and anger. “We have no wish to be human! We don’t remember what it is to _be_ human!” she cried out brokenly, the breath catching in her throat.

“Give yourself a chance before you condemn yourself to being a Borg forever…” Chakotay began to console but was halted by her snort of contempt.

“If you value individual choice so badly then respect ours, we have chosen to return to the Borg.” She told him in a more controlled tone, hot hate flashing in her eyes when she saw denial and disbelief on his face. “The Collective’s assessment of humanity is proving correct, over confident, morally superior, yet violent and hypocritical…”

Chakotay felt his hackles rise as her volley of insults hit home, rage exploding within him as he saw her smirk in satisfaction at regaining control of the situation. “If it wasn’t for humanity’s compassion, my father’s specifically, you wouldn’t be alive right now! If the choice had been mine I’d have left you to rot on that Cube!”

“We wish that you had! We’d rather _die_ that be human!” she screamed back at him. Chakotay was about to retort again when he saw pure, unadulterated, _human_ pain in her eyes. She doesn’t really want me to leave, he realised, without me she’d be utterly alone and she couldn’t cope with that… Acting on this hunch, he dialled some commands into the computer, waiting until the forcefields had deactivated before slowly approaching her, PADD in hand. Instead of lunging at him, as he’d half expected, she backed against the biobed, her jaw set. “If you come any closer, I’ll…I'll kill you!” she spat out sullenly as he came ever closer.

He found himself giving her a knowing smile, all the while wondering if he’d lost his mind, “Oh, I don’t think you will, your bark’s worse than your bite I think.”

Total confusion flashed across her agitated face, “Explain!”

He ignored her and held the PADD out towards her. “This is what told us about you. Your name is Annika, Annika Hansen…”

She glanced furtively down at the PADD, her body freezing as she saw the photo and recognition lit her pale face for an instant before utter panic replaced it and she knocked the PADD violently from his hand, “ _NO_! _YOU’RE LYING!_ ” she shrieked wildly.

“I’m not! You know I’m not! Who were you Annika? Who did you love? What did you hate? Which foods did you like? What was your favourite colour?” He wasn’t sure where all these random questions were coming from, but he’d seen a crack in her Borg defences and knew he had to keep pushing her.

She was cowering against the biobed now, clutching her head as she rocked back and forth, glaring at him through her fingers, “Irr…Irrelevant! It’s all _irrelevant_!”

Chakotay heard a gasp from behind him, his father’s shocked voice echoing in his ears, “Chakotay, what are you doing?”

He whirled around to see his father and Chovak staring in disbelief at the sight before them. “Dad…” He began, but was interrupted by Seven of Nine’s strangled sobbing cry, she was now completely overwhelmed, her violently shaking body crumpling to the floor.

Kolopak moved into action, seeing that the danger was past, and knelt down beside her. “I know honey, I know, everything’s going to be fine…”

“No…” She choked out, “Alone, singular, weak, imperfect…” She ranted robotically, curled into the foetal position with a single tear rolling down her cheek as she whispered, “Help…Help us… Help…me…”

Kolopak rubbed her shaking back gently. “We will, we will. Hush now…”

* * *

 

“What do you think she’ll be like Dad?” Chakotay asked worriedly as he stood with his father in the hospital hallway, waiting for Seven of Nine to leave Chovak’s office, her operations now over. “Are you sure it was sensible to let Sekaya see her first?”

“She’ll be what she is, and we’ll accept her.” Kolopak replied calmly. “As for Sekaya, who better to introduce her to being a teenage girl? And she was feeling out of the loop.”

“She should be grateful she was left out of this.” Chakotay said quietly.

Kolopak raised a questioning, and slightly amused, eyebrow, “Really?”

“Yes…” Chakotay started to reply, irritated, but was interrupted by his sister practically bouncing down the hallway, a blonde walking at a much more sedate, uncertain pace beside her. It wasn’t until they stopped in front of them that Chakotay realised the stranger was their former Borg.

She looked so different! She dwarfed the petite Sekaya, in fact she stood a little higher than Chakotay’s chin, and despite not yet being halfway through her teenage years her figure was shapely, her clear pale but healthy complexion a complete turnaround from the deathly pallor of only three days before. Her Borg heritage was still in evidence though in the prominent silver implant above her eye and a star shaped one that started at the base of her ear and travelled down her cheek bone. The most dramatic change to her face though had to be the thick pale gold hair that had been pinned away from her face. Chakotay couldn’t stop staring even as he heard his father’s pleased voice, “Welcome Seven of Nine, I hope you’re feeling better.”

Her voice was stilted, but calm and controlled, “Yes…Dr Chovak has repaired the damage.”

Sekaya snorted beside her, “Yeah, but I had to convince him to make her hair grow back! I’m glad I did though, it’s lovely. A glint of jealousy shone in her dark eyes and she sighed dramatically, “I’ve always wanted to be blonde!”

Seven of Nine frowned at her in bemusement, “Why?”

Sekaya shrugged, “Just to be different I suppose.”

Kolopak intervened, “It doesn’t matter, how about we go and get you settled in?”

Seven of Nine looked uncertain for a moment but nodded stoically. “As you wish.”

“Yeah!” Sekaya enthused, “Then we can replicate more clothes for you! You like what I chose for you, right?”

Seven of Nine glanced at her clothing, a pale green shift dress with a cream long sleeved top underneath to disguise the extend of her cybernetic arm, matching cream leggings and a simple pair of ballet flats, her face developing a deer in the headlights expression as she looked at an expectant Sekaya. Realising her dilemma, Chakotay mouthed “Yes” to her from behind his sister’s back.

She cottoned on quickly as she caught Chakotay’s eye. “Yes. I do.”

Smiling at his daughter’s beaming face, Kolopak gently admonished, “Don’t overwhelm her with so many questions just yet honey, why don’t you show her the way back home?”

“Okay!” Sekaya agreed, immediately setting off. Seven of Nine followed for a few paces then halted abruptly, turning back to face Chakotay.

“Red.” She stated without explanation.

“What?” he asked blankly.

“You asked what her favourite colour was, it was red.” With that said, she turned and submissively followed Sekaya without another word.

Chakotay stood, dumbstruck and unnerved, until his father’s deep voice pulled him out of it, “Well, it seems like we’ll have work to do.” He commented.

“We?” Chakotay echoed uneasily.

“It wasn’t me that got through to her Chakotay, it was you, like it or not.”

“But…But…” Chakotay spluttered, “I didn’t even want to help her in the first place…”

“But you do now, and that’s the important thing.” Kolopak said confidently, a proud smile spreading across his face as he squeezed his son’s shoulder, “And besides…” He added, “You’ll need something to fill your summer here before you head off to the Academy.”

Chakotay nearly choked, “Really? What changed your mind?”

Kolopak smiled cryptically as he turned to follow the girls, “You’ve grown since you asked me.”


	4. Diminutives, Designations and New Fears

“Chakotay, will you go and get Seven of Nine for me? I need to have a talk with her.”

Chakotay glanced up from the PADD he was studying for a Biology project, feeling irritated. Why did his dad need a messenger all of a sudden? It wasn’t as if he was scared of her, in fact, in the week since they’d brought her back to the house, Kolopak had spent more time in the little spare room, where she’d shut herself up while Starfleet crawled eagerly over the wreckage of her Cube, than anyone else even taking her meals into her. “Why can’t you…” He began to ask him grumpily, but stopped when he saw that his father was grinning like a Cheshire cat. “What’s got you so happy?” he inquired, setting the PADD down for now.

“Starfleet are gone, they’ve taken the Cube and all the corpses. They’re like vultures, the area’s picked clean, it’s as if the ship was never there.” Contempt shadowed Kolopak’s voice.

“We’re hiding a pretty significant memento.” Chakotay reminded him, hoping he communicated his unease, and yes, fear, about the whole situation to his father but guilt quickly followed on its heels, it wasn’t that he _wanted_ their Borg guest to go with them, no one deserved to be treated as an expendable piece of ammunition to be used against the Borg, but that knowledge didn’t make the situation any less complicated or frightening…

Kolopak’s smile became steadier, more reassuring, and for a moment Chakotay believed he’d read his mind, seen the turmoil within. “Just go and get her please son.” He reiterated.

Chakotay nodded reluctantly and headed deeper into the house, past Sekaya’s empty bedroom, she was spending the day at a friend’s house on the other side of the village, and his own before finally reaching the door of the Borg’s new lair. Automatically he lifted his fist to knock but then let it drop again, feeling stupid, and instead walked in unannounced. He was surprised to find it dark, the early afternoon light shut out almost entirely by shutters. A sick feeling rose in his gut as his eyes found the room’s only light source, a tall machine with a glowing green light on it, obviously Borg. The sight of it didn’t shake him as much as he thought it would, the disturbing thing was that Seven of Nine stood within it, still and unmoving. In that position, she reminded him of the Borg corpse that had greeted him as he entered the Cube, only held in place inside an identical machine by a few tangled wires and the effects of rigor mortis. As if she unconsciously sensed him staring at her, her eyes snapped open and scanned him up and down, “Chakotay.” She stated by way of greeting.

“My father wants to see you, Starfleet are gone.” If he’d expected relief on her face at that piece of news, he was disappointed; she only nodded stoically and stepped out of the machine in a single stride, but didn’t move towards the doorway. He found his eyebrows rising as he stared at the complex wiring around the odd machine, and just for something to break the silence said, “I guess it’s this thing that’s been sapping so much power, even our lights are unreliable.”

“The power supply to this building is woefully inefficient.” She agreed, “I will attempt to improve the current.” Without waiting for his permission she went to the small circuit panel in the wall and began to work, her fingers moving over it at lightening speed.

Chakotay watched her for a few minutes before losing interest, his gaze moving back to the machine. “What is that thing?”

“A Borg regeneration alcove.” She replied without turning around to face him.

“Ah…” Chakotay muttered, he’d heard of those, the analogy he’d heard Starfleet use was that they recharged a Borg drone like a battery, eliminating the need for sleep. Chovak had said she’d need to use it for the rest of her life if she wanted to stay healthy. He was just about to ask her if she dreamed or had nightmares when she was plugged into that thing when he heard a sharp intake of breath and saw that she’d turned back towards him, the palm of her human hand sliced open and bleeding. “Ouch! Are you okay? What did you do?” he asked anxiously as she stared blankly down at the wound in surprise, as if not quite believing it was there.

Her cybernetic arm waved distractedly back at the circuits she’d been working on, “The panel…it had an unexpectedly sharp edge…”

“Okay.” Chakotay replied quickly, taking her word for it. “I’ll go to the bathroom and get the dermal regenerator.” True to his word, he returned with the regenerator within two minutes, but she just stood there, continuing to stare at the cut, jerkily moving her fingers every so often. Her eyes had a glazed look, one he knew couldn’t be caused entirely by pain, “Seven of Nine?” he asked uncertainly, “What’s wrong?”

“I…I am uncertain…” She mumbled, her eyes still fixed on the cut, “In…In the Collective this damage would have repaired itself with 2.63 seconds…” Her throat moved up and down in a heavy gulp and Chakotay forgot to ask the question of how such nearly instantaneous healing could be achieved as a realisation hit him. It was pure vulnerability, utter fear, that he’d seen in her eyes, the look of a very young child who had for the first time realised they weren’t invincible, that death stalked them throughout life.

He cleared his throat awkwardly and stepped forward. “Well, a dermal regenerator can do it nearly as quick.” He said lightly as he closed the gap between them and activated the regenerator.

She extended her hand out, palm up, stiffening momentarily in shock as his hand fastened on her wrist to hold her still. His skin was warm, a warmth that spread up her whole arm. She supposed she should have expected that, humans were warm blooded creatures after all, but expecting it and feeling it were two different things. She could only remember the icy touch of other drones, their white hands closing around her as they transferred her to a new maturation chamber every time she outgrew her previous one; there was no other reason for physical contact in the Collective… Suddenly, unbidden, as she stared down at his young, tanned hand, the image of another, paler hand, more like hers, filled her brain. It pressed a plaster over a scraped knee, an injury thought too minor for the dermal regenerator, its owner’s face smiling at her reassuringly as he finished the task, pale blue eyes shimmering with kindness. She found herself blinking rapidly as the image faded, a pain she’d never felt before forming behind her eyes. “That’s me finished. Are you okay?”

She jumped at the sound of his voice, snapping her head up and letting her hand fall away from his. For a second she saw the same kindness in his dark eyes as she’d seen in the unknown man’s in the memory, but she quickly dismissed the observation as irrelevant. “Yes.” She answered, “You said that your father wished to see me?”

Chakotay almost winced when he saw her guard was up again, but realised in the same instant that his was to as he replied brusquely, “Yeah, he does. Come on.”

Kolopak smiled in relief when he saw Seven of Nine enter with Chakotay just behind her. “Good morning, how are doing rebuilding that alcove we…requisitioned for you?” he asked her in a friendly tone.

“It is complete.” She responded simply.

He gave a satisfied nod, “Good. You shouldn’t need to worry about using it now; Starfleet and their sensors are gone.

“Chakotay informed me.” She said blandly, “Is there something else you wish to discuss.”

“Yes…” Kolopak shifted awkwardly on his chair. “It about your name…or your designation shouldn’t I say? It’s just that Seven of Nine is a little longer a name than we humans are used to, a little too formal and cumbersome.”

Her lips twitched and Chakotay thought he could read incredulity in her expression and tone, “Seven of Nine is an _already_ shortened form of my full designation.”

“I know, but still…” Kolopak paused to gather his thoughts on how to broach this, “Your human name is Annika, why don’t you let us call you that?” He saw the expected unease cross her face and tried to reassure her, “It’s a very pretty name, it suits you, don’t worry.”

She shifted awkwardly, eyes downward. “If you address me as Annika Hansen I doubt I will respond. I don’t remember a time when I was called by that designation; Seven of Nine is all I am familiar with.”

“Okay…” Kolopak conceded slowly. “How about Seven then? It’s familiar to you, but still concise enough for us.”

Her brows, one blonde, one metal, both crinkled. “A diminutive?”

“Of sorts.” Kolopak agreed, “Like how Chakotay’s real name is Amal, but we call him Chakotay.”

Seven shot Chakotay a bemused look. “That example seems to defeat the purpose of a diminutive; Chakotay contains _more_ syllables than Amal.”

Chakotay found himself chuckling and ran a hand through his hair, “Maybe not the best example in the world to give her Dad.”

“No.” Kolopak said sheepishly, “But is Seven okay for you?”

She seemed to think about it for a moment or two. “Imprecise, but…adequate.”

Kolopak and Chakotay shared a triumphant and relieved smile. “Adequate will do just fine then Seven.” Kolopak told her happily.


	5. Lessons in Compassion...and Swimming

Chakotay groaned in agitation as he glared down at the incomprehensible list of math formula and their attached questions. He sensed, rather than saw, his father’s raised eyebrow as Kolopak said, “What’s wrong son?”

“Nothing…” Chakotay muttered through gritted teeth before admitting as he lifting his head to meet his father’s eyes, “Just wondering how I’m ever going to pass math this year.”

Kolopak smiled sympathetically, “Why don’t you take a break for a little while?” he suggested, lifting the PADD off his son’s lap and switching it off, “How about you take Seven out for a walk? She’s hardly seen anything of our beautiful world except the hospital and this house.”

Seven, who had unobtrusively been tidying the kitchen after lunch, or more accurately, arranging the cupboards to suit her ideals of efficiency, whirled sharply around to face them. “I do not wish to disrupt Chakotay’s studies; I have no reason to go outside.”

Kolopak laughed, “That’s precisely why you should go my dear, and then you can appreciate the countryside without rushing off to complete some chore.” Seeing that both teens were frowning at him, he pushed further, “You two need to get out and smell the roses, while you still can.”

Chakotay straightened his tall frame and pulled his father aside, “I don’t think its safe Dad, I know the villagers were told about her by the Elders, but they might not take well to having a Borg…”

Kolopak studied his anxious face seriously, “This house isn’t a convent Chakotay, she needs to get out.” He glanced concernedly at the bags under Chakotay’s eyes, “And so do you, there is such a thing as studying too hard you know.”

Chakotay couldn’t stop his shoulders dropping sulkily as he realised his father was going to keep pushing this and turned back to Seven, snatching up a light coat as he did so, “It doesn’t seem we have much choice in the matter. Come on Seven.” Wordlessly, with only a diffident nod in Kolopak’s direction, Seven followed him out of the back door.

They walked in silence for the first couple of miles, the only sounds either heard as they skirted the newly sown fields the occasional trill of mating birds and the rustle of grass underneath. Finally, after spending the entire journey so far scanning the area meticulously with her enhanced eye, Seven lost patience and stopped abruptly. “Where exactly _are_ these roses?” she asked with irritation in her tone.

Chakotay was so wrapped up in his own thoughts he probably wouldn’t have noticed she’d stopped walked if his mind hadn’t gradually tuned itself to her marching footsteps and realised he no longer heard them. “Roses?” he asked in bemusement after taking a few seconds to process her out of the blue question, “There aren’t any roses yet, they don’t bloom until summer and even then only in some people’s gardens. They’re Earth plants after all.”

Seven’s discontented frown deepened. “I do not understand. If there are no roses, why would your father direct us to smell them?”

“What? Oh…” Chakotay bit his lips to stop a smiling forming as realisation dawned. “He wasn’t _actually_ telling us to smell flowers Seven. It’s a human saying, he was telling us to pause and enjoy life.”

Seven nodded slowly, and then sighed, “I doubt I will ever fully understand the human attachment to metaphor.”

Chakotay stopped at the top of a hill and glanced back at her as she came to join him. “It just makes our language a little less…utilitarian I suppose, more interesting.”

“Perhaps.” Seven said without much confidence before pointing out the thick patch of forest that started halfway down the hill. “What do your people use that land for? Surely they could clear it and make more farmland.”

Chakotay lowered his head sheepishly, unsure how he should explain. “It’s a sacred forest, one of the oldest on the planet. The religious among us think it would anger the Sprits to fell it.”

Seven’s eyebrow shot up, but her face remained otherwise impassive as she said, “It seems to me that your people’s beliefs obstruct their progress somewhat.”

He smiled wryly as they descended the hill and went under the canopy of trees. “I couldn’t agree with you more there, but it’s just the way it is here.”

They had been walking several more minutes when Chakotay heard Seven stop again, taking a sharp intake of breath as she did so.”What is it?” he asked softly when he saw how captivated her gaze was.

“Look.” She whispered, pointing just ahead through the trees, admiration in her blue eyes.

He smiled when he saw what she meant; he had seen it so often he’d almost forgotten. The silvery rock face onto which the forest backed opened here in a clean gash, a crystalline waterfall, fuelled by snowmelt, gushing from the top and into a small pool set in the forest floor. “It’s beautiful isn’t it?” he said proudly.

She gave a reverential nod, “I can see why your people value this place.” She agreed.

He sighed, she still expressed very human emotions through a drone’s eyes, but she had them, at least partially. He saw more evidence of that with every day that passed. “Do you want to see the cavern behind the waterfall? Kids go in it all the time.”

“Are we “kids”?” Seven asked, sounding truly uncertain.

She saw offence immediately flash across his chiselled face. “Well, _I’m_ not!” He said hotly before giving her a sidelong glance, “I’m not sure about you…” His voice trailed off and he gave a small, almost apologetic, shrug, “Let’s just go and have a look.” He said decisively, heading off down the narrow track to the edge of the pond.

They had reached the small lip of rock that would wind around to the cavern’s entrance and began to walk along it before they heard them, the sounds of other young human voices, taunting and excited. “Pa said we had enough dogs Hal, let’s just hurry up and drown them.” One voice said, but was quickly interrupted by another, who Chakotay and Seven both assumed was Hal.

“Let’s have some fun first Luko.” Hal replied. The sound of a foot hitting something, then a high pitched yelp, made disgust rise in Chakotay’s stomach and his blood boil in anger.

He ran forward into the cavern, ignoring the spray of the waterfall, to see two youths of about fourteen and twelve kicking a large brown sack and cackling with laughter. “Hey!” he yelled, “What are you doing? Stop torturing that poor creature!”

The older boy, Hal’s, lips twisted maliciously, “Yeah? Says who?”

“I say!” Chakotay retorted, becoming more and more enraged as they pointedly ignored him.

“Cease and desist!” Seven snapped suddenly from somewhere behind them. Chakotay couldn’t help but feel pleasure surge through him as he saw their faces turn white with fear.

“It’s that rogue Borg! Run! She’ll kill us!” Hal shouted at Luko, who stood as if frozen for a few seconds as Seven approached before coming back to life and throwing the sack into the pond before bolting after Hal, who’d already scrambled from the cavern and up the wooded slope.

Chakotay watched them go with a sigh of satisfaction. “What a pair of thuggish bast…” He began to say to Seven before he realised she had disappeared. “Seven? Seven!”

A splashing sound resounded in his ears and then he saw her crown of golden hair bobbing in the pond, her enhanced arm holding the sack above her head. “I am here Chakotay!” she called to him, disappearing under the water again for a few seconds before resurfacing at the pool’s edge.

“What the hell was that?” Chakotay shouted angrily as he heaved her out of the pool and onto the cavern floor, “You could’ve drowned, do you even know how to swim properly?”

“Obviously…the skill is rather simple.” She replied breathlessly as she rung out her dripping hair, her gaze still intent on the sack. “What is it?”

Equally curious, Chakotay cautiously opened the bag to reveal a small white fluffy animal. “It’s a puppy!” he exclaimed in disgusted disbelief, “They were trying to kill a puppy!”

“They were not successful.” Seven said as she saw the animal move weakly. “But it is damaged…” She said quietly, Chakotay was surprised to hear real pity in her voice, but even more so when she pulled out a damp dermal regenerator from her back pocket.

“Where did you get…” Chakotay started to ask, then remembered the incident in her room a couple of weeks before and frowned, “You were supposed to return that to the medicine cabinet…”

She shrugged nonchalantly, her attention fixed on the young dog. “I kept it in case there were anymore…accidents.”

Chakotay sighed, “Here, give it to me and you hold the dog.” He saw panic cross her face as he laid it on her lap and smiled teasingly at her, “It’ll be a lot more scared of you than you are of it Seven.”

She glared at him, “Just repair it Chakotay.”

Thankfully the puppy’s injuries were minor enough for Chakotay to deal with himself, he was soon finished and laid the regenerator to one side, smiling at Seven. “I think I’ve repaired most of the damage now Seven…” He told her, mimicking her Borg vocabulary. “It’s a he by the way.” He added, but was disturbed by her distant, troubled expression as she stroked the puppy in her lap. “What’s wrong?”

She allowed herself a small sigh, “Those boys, they thought I would kill them…” She said shakily.

Chakotay winced, wishing he’d forgotten his morals and punched their lights out before she’d had to hear that. “They were just a pair of ignorant scum…”

She laughed, it was the first time he’d heard her laugh at all, and instead of joy, it held fear and bitterness. “True.” She agreed. “But I am Borg and they have done worse things on a greater scale. I will be judged worse than them, even though I do not understand such pointless violence.”

“It’s a _good_ thing not to understand cruelty, I’d like to go through life never understanding.” Chakotay told her earnestly, not liking where her train of thought was leading her.

She ignored him, it was as if he wasn’t there at all. “I, as an individual drone, was never actually active. From the day of my assimilation to the day the malfunction on the Cube released me, this body was in a maturation chamber. My implants were fully integrated, but my organic systems were still immature, I was to have stayed in there for another two years, three months, six days…”

Chakotay quickly calculated from the day of the crash, gasping when the answer came, she’d have been released to assimilate people on her eighteenth birthday. “Seven, try not to feel guilty, you just said you never actually _did_ anything to anyone…”

“You do not understand.” She said dismissively, “There is no _I_ in the Collective, no individual responsibility, we are all one mind doing those things you despise.”

“Well, you’re not Borg anymore!” Chakotay snapped, “Come on, we’re going home.” She seemed to come back to herself then, returning to normal, and glanced down at the puppy. “He can come too, let’s go!”

* * *

 

They walked back the rest of the way in silence. Seven watched his lithe back stomping in front of her, perhaps her words had unsettled him, caused offence? Despite trying to dismiss that fear as irrational, and above all, irrelevant, she found that the idea of his being upset with her bothered her. Quickly she shifted the puppy in her arms and sprinted to his side, “I will assist with your mathematics homework when we return if you wish.” She offered quietly.

He whirled around to face her and she saw a surprisingly boyish grin spread across his face as he took in the sight of the soaked young Borg with a puppy under one arm, looking at him with concerned eyes, “Sure.” He replied pleasantly.

* * *

 

“Where have you been?” Kolopak asked as soon as they were in the door, Sekaya at his shoulder. “What’s that?” He asked as he peered at the animal in Seven’s arms.

“A puppy.” Seven replied bluntly, answering only the second question and not the first, which Chakotay took up.

“There were these two kids trying to drown him in the waterfall pool in the forest Dad.” Chakotay explained. “Seven jumped in and fished him out.”

“Aww, poor baby!” Sekaya cried out, immediately reaching out for the puppy, but Seven drew back with him.

“It’s not a baby Sekaya.” She corrected her seriously, making Sekaya laugh at the misunderstanding.

Kolopak frowned at Seven, “You jumped into that icy snowmelt? You’ll get a chill!” He admonished in a fatherly tone before his brow creased in curiosity, “Why did you do it?”

This question seemed to stump Seven, she even seemed embarrassed, “I…I am uncertain…” She stammered, “I felt it was wrong…somehow, to leave him to drown.”

Kolopak nearly hugged her, but instead he smiled proudly. “That’s called compassion Seven.”

She looked mortified, “Compassion is irrelevant to the Borg.”

“But not to humans, to humans it’s the most vital thing there is.” Kolopak told her seriously.

“Chakotay told me that you showed compassion towards me…” She said uncertainly.

Kolopak caught his son’s eye, pleased. “He’s right, I did, and you showed some to this little guy here.” He saw Sekaya bringing a saucer of milk and mashed meat over and said, “How about we try to feed him?”

Seven lowered the puppy to the floor, frowning when he only sniffed the plate, “He does not know how to eat.”

“Neither did you when you first came, remember? I had to teach you.” Kolopak reminded her.

Chakotay saw Sekaya’s face pale and knew his had too. Was that the reason Kolopak had taken Seven’s meals into her at first, a privilege they’d been jealous of, because she didn’t know how to chew, or even swallow? Pity overwhelmed him and once again he saw her on a different level.

Sekaya interrupted, her voice somewhat high- pitched, and Chakotay knew she had the same thoughts running through her head, “What do you want to call him? He looks like a wolf to me, Wolf would be a good name.”

Chakotay snorted as he looked down at the fluffy little puppy in Seven’s lap, who was now tentatively feeding him with her fingers, yes, he had the thick grey-white coat, slightly curled tail and alert ears, but that was where the similarity to a wolf ended. “Don’t be silly Sekaya, he’s more like some sort of husky, not a wolf!”

Seven nodded, “I agree, to name a dog Wolf would be a misnomer.”

Sekaya’s eyes narrowed at them, feeling ganged up on, “So what do you two want to call him then?”

Seven shrugged wordlessly and Chakotay had to ponder for several minutes before answering, “How about…Lucky?”

“An appropriate name, considering the situation of his arrival.” Seven said.

Kolopak forced his arthritic knees to push him off the floor. “Lucky it is then, but Lucky’s going to be looked after by you three, understood?”

“Yes!” They all chorused.


	6. Seven's School Daze

Kolopak rubbed his eyes, trying to encourage wakefulness as he walked from his bedroom towards the kitchen. It was Sunday, he supposed he could have had a lie in for once, but he didn’t want to come across as a hypocrite to his teenage children, given that under normal circumstances he was always nagging them to get up and enjoy the day. He headed for the kettle on autopilot, he hated replicated tea with a passion, and began to rummage around for his favourite cup, until that is, the smell of freshly brewed tea hit his nostrils and he realised the cup was sitting in front of him, already filled to the brim and waiting for him. “What? Who…” He began to mutter in confusion.

“Good morning. Is the tea acceptable?” He turned around at Seven’s voice to see her watching him from the couch, Lucky’s head in her lap.

He felt his eyebrows shooting up in surprise, “Did you make this for me Seven?”

“Yes.” She replied, her posture stiffening as if she feared disapproval, “I have observed that you always have a cup of tea around this time. Since I was awake before you, I thought it would be more efficient for me to have it prepared.”

“That was very thoughtful of you.” Kolopak praised her happily before taking a sip of the tea, “Perfect. Do you want some?” She shook her head and he nodded as he sat down beside her on the couch. “There’s something I’ve wanted to discuss with you Seven.”

Seven dipped her head in permission, “As you wish.” She said impassively.

“Well…” Kolopak took a deep breath in as her intense gaze, which would have been disconcerting in an adult let alone a teenage girl, bored into him. “I think it’s time you tried going to school.”

Seven couldn’t stop her body from giving a little start, making Lucky whimper and press his fluffy head into her hand. She hadn’t been expecting that! “School?” she echoed. “But Kolopak, I have the knowledge of over a million assimilated species incorporated into my cortical node. Surely you don’t doubt my intelligence so much as to…” She couldn’t help hurt from seeping into her tone.

“No, no, that’s not it at all!” Kolopak reassured her vehemently, “I meant it as more of a _social_ learning exercise for you. School will teach you so many invaluable things, how to interact with new people, make new friends your own age…”

Seven didn’t deny any of that, only the bow of her head and the way she continually stroked Lucky for comfort and reassurance told Kolopak she wasn’t completely comfortable with the idea. Finally she looked up at him with wavering eyes, “Do…do you really think going to school will improve me?”

“Oh certainly, that’s what it’s for.” He replied with calm certainty, giving her human hand a squeeze. “Don’t worry, you won’t be alone. The school is so small you’ll be in the same class as Sekaya and probably Chakotay too.”

Seven breathed a sigh of relief; she wasn’t going to be abandoned with strangers…again. “If you believe it to be prudent Kolopak, I will do as you ask.”

Her voice was so quiet and submissive that Kolopak felt guilt surge through him, perhaps he was pushing too hard, too soon. They’d only freed her two months ago after all. “Listen, if you’re really not happy there, you don’t have to go, but it’s nearly the end of term anyway so I’d like you to give it a chance, okay?”

Seven was grateful for the compromise, her escape route, and found that she was pleased he was putting so much trust and confidence in her. Fixing a small smile in place she said, “Okay, I will.”

* * *

 

The next morning dawn clear and bright as Sekaya, Chakotay, and now Seven, left for school. It hurt Seven to leave Lucky shut in the kitchen, whining and paws scraping on the kitchen door, but Sekaya’s enthusiastic gossiping about the school pushed her on, as well as the calming affect of Chakotay’s guiding hand on her arm, and before she knew it they were in the classroom, fifteen pairs of eyes staring at her with rude inquisitiveness.

The village school was so small all the teenagers who would have been considered to be in high school shared a teacher, meaning Chakotay did share classes with his younger sister and Seven, but it was lively enough that Seven’s arrival created a real buzz. Seven felt panic rise within her as Chakotay was dragged away from her by other adolescent boys and she was surrounded by strangers, but there wasn’t much he could do about it as he was bombarded by questions. “So this is the Borg your dad managed to hide from Starfleet?” Chakotay’s best friend Kalai asked eagerly.

“Um…yeah.” Chakotay confirmed awkwardly, his eyes still on Seven, who was getting shown off to Sekaya’s friends as if she were a new doll. He still wasn’t entirely comfortable with the fact that his family were hiding something from the organisation he hoped to dedicate his life to.

“I can see why you kept her to yourself Chakotay, even with all that metal, she’s still a stunner!” Frenec, another one of his classmates, sneered lewdly.

Paloc, a crony of Frenec, whispered conspiratorially, “I wonder if I could programme her to be my girlfriend without me having to splash out on dates…”

Despite his low tone Chakotay heard him and bristled with a violent protective anger which surprised even himself. “ _Don’t_ speak like that about her, either of you.” He growled at them.

“Getting a little possessive of your robot girl Chakotay? Remember, she’s an individual now, she might decide she likes me…” Frenec taunted.

Chakotay felt himself grow flustered with anger and embarrassment, “She’s not _mine_ , I just don’t think you should talk like…”

“Good morning class! Take your seats please.” The friendly but commanding voice of their teacher Ms Lagoni rang through the room and Chakotay was forced to still his angry tongue and satisfy himself with shooting Frenec and Paloc seething glares across the room. Seven meanwhile, found herself frozen to the spot like a deer in headlights as everyone obeyed and sat in assigned seats, leaving her standing alone. Her turmoil was thankfully short-lived as the teacher addressed her in a gentle tone, “Hello, you must be Seven. I’m Ms Lagoni, come to me if you don’t understand anything, okay?” Seven nodded mutely, allowing herself to be guided to a chair at the front of the room as she tried to ignore sensing everyone’s eyes on her. The constant attention made her skin crawl.

* * *

 

They spent the morning on a class wide talk about Federation history. Seven pondered on the parts they missed out, the unpalatable details the Collective had gleaned from the minds of assimilated officials over the years, but wisely decided not to pass on her knowledge, at least not here. “Now everyone get out their exercise books and write notes of what I’ve just told you, your homework tonight is going to be an opinion piece on the foundation of the Federation.” Ms Lagoni ordered, generating a collective sigh across the room. Seven looked around her, expecting to be given a PADD on which to write, but instead all she could see was primitive sheets of paper and ink pens. Surely this planet wasn’t so backward as to reduce their inhabitants to such inefficient methods! Slowly, she raised her hands as she’d seen her fellow pupils do throughout the day. “Yes Seven?” Ms Lagoni asked curiously when the strange girl, who she herself was having difficulty not staring at, raised her hand.

“I cannot start this assignment Ms. Lagoni.” She stated matter-of-factly.

“No, of course not. I’m sorry; I didn’t consider that you wouldn’t know much Federation history…” Ms Lagoni began apologetically.

“I am well versed in the origins of the Federation.” Seven interrupted quickly, feeling a blush creep up her neck as the older woman stared at her, “But…I am unsure how to write in this manner…” She indicated the pen and paper in front of her. Seven actually felt physically sick as the whole room fell into a stunned silence, then was rocked by a few nervous giggles, she didn’t hate anything more than admitting a weakness, a hole in her pursuit of perfection.

“Get back to your own work!” Ms. Lagoni snapped at her sniggering pupils when she saw Seven withdrawing into herself, what had Kolopak been thinking bringing this damaged girl here? Hurriedly she scanned the faces around the room, settling on Chakotay, the only one in the room not laughing, with relief. “Chakotay, would you help her please?”

“Yes ma’am.” Chakotay agreed, rapidly pulling up a chair to Seven’s desk and sitting down beside her. Seven gritted her teeth, her mood sinking even lower with the fact that Chakotay had to dig her out of this humiliating hole. He didn’t seem to mind much through, “Watch me Seven.” He instructed, copying out the alphabet in block capitals and then small letters before positioning the pen in her hand, “Now you try.”

Seven began to copy out the letters, her untrained hand agonisingly slow. Irritated she hissed in Chakotay’s ear, “And why do your people prefer this method?”

He smirked at her wryly, “Apparently it builds character.”

Seven sighed and took in her surroundings again, upset when she realised that all the girls in the room were glaring at her. Unconsciously she shifted closer to Chakotay and Sekaya, watching the whole scene, felt sympathy for both. Neither of them realised they were a target for jealousy!

* * *

 

“This formula…” Ms Lagoni indicated the senior grade algebraic formula she’d just copied from the textbook. “Please show what _x_ equals.”

Quick as a flash, before the words were even fully out of the teacher’s mouth, Seven answered, “ _x_ equals 9.”

“This isn’t a calculator question Seven.” Ms. Lagoni replied patiently.

Seven shot her a quizzical look. “I do not require assistance to answer that equation.”

Ms. Lagoni looked at her incredulously, “Wait, are you saying you did that mentally?”

“Yes.” Seven replied simply.

“Show me how.” Ms Lagoni handed Seven the interactive pen for the board. Seven stood up, unsure why the teacher cared, it was simple after all, and set to writing down what her mind had concluded in 0.89 seconds.

“Amazing…” Ms Lagoni breathed when she saw Seven had finished, flicking through the textbook for the most difficult math formula she could find. “Do this one too.”

Seven glanced at it, a small sigh Chakotay recognised as frustrated boredom leaving her lips. “May I elaborate on it?” she asked after a small pause.

“Of course.” Ms Lagoni agreed disbelievingly. Quickly Seven plunged into writing the most complex and multi layered math formula she’d ever seen, it seemed to be drifting into Physics by the time she’d finished, filling the computerised board many times over. “What is that exactly?” She asked her Borg pupil, earning shocked looks from her class.

“It’s just simple warp theorem, I thought the class might find it more useful to learn.” Seven replied honestly. Frowning when she turned around to see everyone looking at her agape, she turned back to the still stunned looking teacher, “Perhaps…I do not require any further mathematics tuition at this time.” She concluded quietly, getting rigorous nods of agreement from everyone in the room.


End file.
